Verdicts and Settlements

$60.9 Million Verdict for Brain-Injured Baby

Led by partner Deborah J. Gander, the firm in 2005 obtained $60.9 million in injury compensation, the largest amount ever awarded in a Federal Tort Claims Act case in the country. Federal Judge Jose A. Gonzalez found the Obstetrics Clinic in Mayport Naval Station in Jacksonville, Florida, liable for medical negligence in the delivery of a brain-injured baby.

Our class action team achieved a $100 million settlement from Service Corporation International (SCI), a national funeral company, and its subsidiary, Menorah Gardens Cemetery. The case alleged that the companies buried families in the wrong graves, and the company agreed to compensate for the families’ grievances and provide in-kind services.

Lion Air Flight 610 Update: Investigators Release Preliminary Crash ReportOn October 29, 2018, a Lion Air flight traveling from Jakarta, Indonesia to Pangkal Pinang crashed into the Java Sea after experiencing a flight control problem minutes after departure. There were no survivors. The Republic of Indonesia’s Komite Nasional Keselamatan Transportasi (KNKT) recently published a preliminary report about Lion Air ...

NHTSA Investigates General Motors Over Faulty Braking SystemAccording to a report from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s Office of Defects Investigation (ODI), more than 2.7 million General Motors (GM) vehicles could be affected by deteriorating brake assist vacuum pumps. After receiving 111 complaints about 2014, 2015 and 2016 truck and SUV models, NHTSA has launched an ...

Marriott Discloses 500 Million Guests Affected by Starwood’s Database HackAccording to Marriott’s press release, Starwood’s guest reservation database was hacked. On September 8, 2018, Marriott International received an internal alert about an unauthorized user attempting to access the Starwood guest reservation database. Since then, investigators found copied and encrypted information from an authorized user. ...

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Practice Area Blog

What Laws Govern Aviation Accidents and Plane Crashes?

Miami Aviation Attorney on the Montreal Convention

Major aviation accident victims can seek compensation from negligent airlines under the Montreal Convention, which is an international treaty regarding plane crashes. The Montreal Convention is actually beneficial to passengers who have been hurt on airplanes or involved in an international accident, as it calls for strict liability on the part of the air carrier. In this video, Miami aviation accident attorney Curtis Miner explains the Montreal Convention and the ways in which it protects plane crash victims when they file claims against negligent airlines.

If you have lost a loved one or been injured in a plane crash, call us at (305) 476-7400 or fill out our online case review form.

Video Transcription:

The Montreal Convention is a treaty enacted in Montreal, hence its name, that applies to international flights between countries that are signatories to the Montreal Convention. And the Montreal Convention did one thing that’s very beneficial for passengers. It made it much easier for passengers to establish that they’ve been harmed, and it did this by creating strict liability for the airline if an accident has occurred on an international flight. And what that means is that the passenger doesn’t have to prove what the pilots did wrong, what the airline did wrong. The rationale behind that is, well, in aviation cases we know it’s not the passenger’s fault, and it’s exceedingly difficult for a passenger to try to prove in a complex case what the pilots did wrong, what the airline did wrong. So the Montreal Convention establishes strict liability for airlines where accidents occur in planes. Now, on the other side, it also put some restrictions on the types of damages that passengers can recover. For example, if your case is governed by the Montreal Convention, you can’t recover punitive damages. Another area that’s hotly litigated, hot contested in the courts is to what degree you can recover damages for purely mental trauma or purely mental distress as a result of having been through a plane accident and these are areas where you will need the representation of experienced counsel in this area to make sure your rights are being protected.

Contact our lawyers at (305) 476-7400 or contact our website at Colson.com for more information.

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(*) Disclaimer: All verdicts and settlements listed here are gross amounts before deductions for attorney fees and costs. Past results do not guarantee similar results in the future. Most cases result in a lower recovery. It should not be assumed that your case will have as beneficial a result.